PARIS (MNI) - Spain's fiscal situation should not be compared to that of Greece or other eurozone governments, Secretary of State for the Economy Jose Manuel Campa said in a newspaper interview published Tuesday.

The comparison with Greece "is a bit simplistic," Campa told the French business daily Les Echos.

Until the meltdown in Spain's construction sector, "the structure of our public accounts was well balanced and the level of indebtedness very low," he reminded.

The massive structural shift underway in the domestic economy accentuated the cyclical downturn that affected all eurozone countries, Campa insisted. "This explains why our recovery is a bit slower and more painful in terms of employment.

Campa defended the growth scenario in Madrid's plan to slash its public deficit from over 11% of GDP to 3% by 2013, arguing that the difference between the government's projection for a GDP decline of 0.3% this year and the IMF's forecast of -0.6% was minimal. The divergence last year was larger and the government was correct in the end, he noted.

"I think we are realistic for this year," Campa said.

On a road show across Europe to convince market players of the viability of his government's consolidation program, Campa said, "One cannot be a slave to the markets and evaluate an economic policy decision as good or bad on the basis of the reaction of the stock market or the decline or rise in our debt rating."

The widening of credit default spreads for Spain's sovereign debt "does not fill us with joy, but it is not a problem in the sense that it will not prevent us from selling our debt, even if it will cost us a bit more," he said.

"And it will not stop our growth potential," he said. "Spain has a level of indebtedness [which is] supportable."